This year's Origami Holiday Tree is now lighting up the Grand Gallery, on the Museum's first floor. Decked with 800 hand-folded paper models, the tree's theme this year is "Wicked, Wild, and Wonderful," inspired by the new exhibition The Power of Poison. Museum icons, including dinosaurs of many kinds, also grace the tree.

On Tuesday, November 26, Rao speaks at the Hayden about the Comet ISON, which on Thanksgiving Day will be passing within just 750,000 miles of the Sun’s surface. Should the comet stay intact, it will be clearly visible from Earth.

Recently, we spoke with Rao about Comet ISON and his career in meteorology.